


You are my rescue

by patwrites



Category: Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: Cliche, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Idiots in Love, Romantic Fluff, Tony is a sap, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, date
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2018-12-14
Packaged: 2019-09-18 03:17:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16987095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/patwrites/pseuds/patwrites
Summary: Dates! Fluff! Love! Everything you want for your pepperony needs :D





	You are my rescue

"You know, I've never actually been on a picnic date," Pepper says in the middle of their movie through a mouthful of popcorn. The couple on the screen, from a random romcom Netflix recommended them, are in the middle of professing their undying love for each other on a picnic date, both looking deeply into the other's eyes dramatically. It makes Tony want to roll his eyes at the cliche of it all, but he can't deny he's a sucker for romance.

"Really?" Tony asks. He pulls a bit away from Pepper -who is tucked into his right side between his chest and arm- to look at her with furrowed brows. "Never?"

"Never," she reiterates. Pepper turns her eyes back on the screen right as the couple kiss then tucks her face into Tony's side to stifle a yawn and it's the most adorable thing Tony has ever seen. He just wants to wrap her up, carry her to their bedroom and never leave. "Why, have you?" she asks after the credits roll.

"Once or twice. I was too drunk or high to remember it, though."

Pepper snorts and pats his chest then gets up off the couch with a sigh and disappears into the bathroom. The screen asks Tony if he wants to play the next movie, but he's too lost in thought to pay it attention. He's never thought Pepper might not have experienced something so simple as a picnic date. With the kind of lives they're living, it just seems like they've gone through such extreme situations that a mere picnic date shouldn't even count as a thing on their bucket list. But now that he knows it, he just can't get it out of his head. Now that he thinks about it, they haven't gone on a proper date in a few months. Maybe it's time for that to change...

"Are you hungry?"

"Huh? Oh sorry, Pep, didn't catch that. Could you repeat?"

"I said," Pepper repeats from the doorway, a smile on her freckled face, "are you hungry? I feel like mac and cheese, what do you say?"

"Yeah, sounds nice," Tony smiles back. He jumps over the back of the couch and collects their bowl of popcorn and the soda cans as he goes, joining Pepper in the kitchen for their nightly routine of preparing dinner.

"I'll put these on the stove while you wash that bowl, you can shred the cheeses afterwards," Pepper tells Tony then kisses him sweetly and turns to grab a pot from the cupboard.

"Sir yes sir," he replies and starts on the dishes, gears turning in the back of his mind as he talks to Pepper about her upcoming meeting with the Board of Directors.

* * *

  
Pepper wakes up early the next day. The sun hasn't even come up by the time she's all dressed up and ready to leave. Happy is waiting for her outside, loading the luggage inside the trunk while she says goodbye. Usually she'd find Tony down in the workshop, playing with schematics for a new suit for him or Peter, or maybe designing something for SI but not today. He's fast asleep when she's done getting ready, chest softly rising and falling with the tranquility of his sleep. It's a rare occurrence, one which Pepper loathes to interrupt, but she knows better by now than to leave on a business trip without saying goodbye.

"Tony, Tony wake up," she gently shakes him. When he doesn't budge she smiles fondly and strokes his face, feeling the light stubble that has begun growing on his always pristine face. Tony scrunches up his nose but his eyes flutter open, those beautiful eyelashes brushing against his cheeks as he blinks sluggishly and all Pepper wants to do is kiss his eyelids over and over again until he falls asleep again, right next to her.

But she has work to do and it cannot wait.

"Morning, Bambi," Pepper teases which earnes her a sleepy chuckle.

"Mornin', Pep," her husband says back. His voice is groggy, full with sleep, which makes her heart swell with fondness and love. He yawns and stretches in bed like a cat then gracelessly plops back down on the mattress with a dopey grin on his face. "Time to go?"

Pepper nods and brushes back his hair, clearing the path to the earthy brown eyes that she finds herself falling in love with every single day.

"Gimme a kiss before you go. You're gonna be late," Tony beckons her and she goes willingly, naturally, because they've been doing this dance for years now and it's become second nature to the both of them.

The kiss is sweet, deep, full of yearning and love and promises for later. These days it seems like time doesn't like them very much, it feels like they're always running out of it. Later is all they can promise to each other sometimes, but when they got married they vowed they'd always make that later happen, no matter what. And so far they have. They've defied death itself, so what else is there really that could stand in the way of Pepper and Tony Potts-Stark?

"I'll be back before you know it," Pepper mumbles against Tony's lips when their kiss ends. She gives him another quick peck before she stands up, smooths out her skirt and nods at him. Then she's out the door and into the car, and Pepper finds herself waving through the car window at a now fully awake Tony watching her from the window of their bedroom.

Just a day, she tells herself. Just a day.

* * *

  
She falls asleep on the plane ride, despite trying desperately to keep her eyes open. She had plans to facetime Tony on the way to Los Angeles to lessen the hurt in her heart at being separated from him so soon after her last trip, but the minute she reclines in her chair her eyes fall closed and she's a goner.

Pepper wakes up with a snort some time later, startled awake by unexpected turbulence, and she fights for purchase in the chair. Her breathing is labored and her mind on alert but just as fast she realizes where she is and calms down, relaxing in her chair and throwing her head back. The redhead presses a button to call for a flight attendant then sighs and rubs her eyes to get rid of any lingering sleep.

"Yes, Mrs. Potts-Stark?" the young woman asks, voice cheery and polite, yet quiet so as not to disturb the other passengers.

"Could you fetch me a water, please?"

"Would you like some lemon with it as well?"

"No, just water will do," Pepper shakes her head.

"Very well, Mrs."

The plane is swimming through the ocean of clouds outside, black and blue swirling veins peeking from beneath every so often, green everywhere. The young attendant lays the glass of water down next to Pepper and the cloudy ocean disappears momentarily while she turns her head to thank her and take a sip.

"Is it okay if I give my husband a call?" Pepper asks once she's set the glass down.

"Absolutely, Mrs. Potts-Stark."

Pepper nods and takes her phone out of her bag. The Stark logo lights up the black screen once she turns it on, so while she waits for the phone to boot up her eyes wander back to the view outside. The green has given way to a mass of blue now, and it reminds her of the time Dum-E spilled Tony's paint in the workshop in his haste to greet her. She smiles and unlocks her phone.

"Pepper!" Tony sounds startled when he picks up. The screen is black for a while, and Pepper looks on in fond confusion until whatever covers the camera is taken away and her eyes are blessed with the sight of her husband.

"Hey, Tony."

"Are you there yet? Already?"

"No, love. I still have a few minutes to go I think. I just wanted to talk to you, make sure you haven't burned down the house in the meantime," she laughs.

Tony's expression turns concerned and startled for a second before he laughs it off as if nothing had happened. Pepper squints her eyes in suspicion.

"...You didn't burn it down, did you?"

"What? No. Of course not!"

"Tony..."

"Pep, light of life, reason I get up in the morning, the only woman I'll ever love, I swear everything's alright. Scout's honor!" he lays his hand over his heart solemnly, but it only makes Pepper more suspicious.

"Whatever you say, Tony. You have time to fix the mess before I come home."

"Nothing to fix, honey," Tony simpers.

"Uh huh."

_"All passengers, prepare for landing."_

"I've gotta go, Tony. Talk to you after I'm done?"

"Sure thing, Pep. Good luck on your meeting," he says, blowing her a kiss and a smile.

"It's called experience, Tony, not luck," she teases and blows him a kiss too before ending the call and preparing her handbag for landing.

* * *

  
The meeting goes well, uneventful -but necessary- as ever, though it takes up longer than she would like. She debates staying the night in L.A. and taking the first flight back tomorrow morning, but the image of a sleepy Tony kissing her goodbye just this morning makes her heart clench and she shakes her head. She's leaving today. Right after lunch.

"To the nearest Italian restaurant, please," Pepper instructs the taxi driver then pulls out her phone to send Tony a quick text to let him know she's done. She waits a couple of minutes for his reply, quickly checking her emails and Twitter notifications while she does, but it never comes. Shrugging it off as him being busy in the lab and forgetting his phone on vibrate again, Pepper puts her phone away and looks at the passing L.A. traffic as the driver takes her away from the S.I. building.

Six hours later she's in the backseat of a car, Happy in the driver's seat glancing at her curiously through the rearview mirror every few seconds without saying a word. After ten minutes of this she snaps and asks him, "What is it, Happy?"

"What? What do you mean?"

"You've been looking at me for the past ten minutes. Something's off."

"Nothing's off," he lies, eyes glued to the road all of a sudden.

"Is it Tony?" Silence. "What did he do?"

"You'll see. I swear it's nothing bad though, I promise!"

Pepper squints her eyes then sighs in defeat. "I guess I'll find out anyway. At least give me a hint? So that I know what I'm walking into?"

"No can do. Boss asked me not to say anything. It's bad enough you know something's up," Happy shakes his head. Pepper sighs again, rolls her eyes then fixes her gaze on the road.

The trees on the outer edge of the sidewalks and the people walking together side by side pass by in a blur, the purple hues of the evening sky painting them in pastel pinks and violets. The wind blows in Pepper's face, tangling her hair due to the open window, but the air is fresh and cool against her skin. It feels like heaven.

Happy pulls up in the parking garage faster than Pepper realizes, then he opens the door for her and lets her step outside.

"I'll bring your luggage in later. Now go."

Pepper nods, straightens her skirt, then starts walking towards the entrance. F.R.I.D.A.Y. opens the front doors without prompting, the A.I. suspiciously quiet for once. The entire house is quiet, for that matter, now that she thinks about it, and for a second her heart does a backflip in her chest with worry that something happened to Tony.

"Boss is fine, Mrs. Pepper. Follow his instructions and you'll soon find him." That's all F.R.I.D.A.Y. has to say before she falls quiet again.

Pepper looks around in curiosity. She takes off her shoes, kicks them somewhere to the side then dumps her suit jacket on the sofa before she starts walking. She has no clue where to even start, but she figures the kitchen is a safe bet. It turns out it isn't and what she finds there makes her want to both laugh and rip her hair out. The counter's a mess of flour, half chopped vegetables and what looks like rice? She doesn't know what that is about, and frankly, doesn't even want to know.

Pepper turns around deciding she probably wasn't supposed to see that, and goes back to the living room where she finds a rose on the coffee table. She picks it up to smell it and there, impaled on one of the flower's spikes is a pink sticky note.

_"I read somewhere that the Earth's temperature is 5,772 degrees Kelvin, but somehow I think you're hotter still. Go to the bedroom."_

Laughter is startled out of her, and Pepper smiles like a lovesick fool, but follows the instructions and goes to the bedroom. She has to blindly feel around the wall to find the light switch but when she does turn the light on Pepper is welcomed by the sight of a giant stuffed bunny with boobs, lying on the bed in that "paint me like one of your french girls" position.

She snorts out loud. The bloody thing is so ridiculous and obnoxious she can't help but love it. When Tony first got her that bunny they weren't in a good place, relationship-wise, and given the stress and anxiety she was under the present only served to make her angrier. Now, though, the toy brings a smile to her face and Pepper's heart fills with warmth.

She walks towards the bed with slow steps, taking in the sight, and it's when she nears the bed that she realizes the stuffed bunny is wearing red stockings and an ill fitted pair of high heels. Taped on its nose is a blue sticky note that reads: _"I've been thinking a lot about the past recently and couldn't help but want to bring this bad boy back. Hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed dressing it up. Join me on the balcony."_

Pepper sets the note down on the bunny's nose and walks around the bed to the semi opened door that leads to the balcony. She pushes it slowly, curiously open all the way, steps aside with a tentative step and closes the door behind her. There, in the middle of the terrace, lies a thick, soft looking blanket. An open basket rests on one corner of the blanket, with two plastic plates and forks sitting near it. Tony is standing up next to the blanket with a bottle of champagne in one hand and two glasses in the other. He smiles when he sees her and beckons her closer with a tilt of his head.

Pepper smiles so broadly her cheeks start to hurt. Her footsteps are firmer, more confident when she starts walking towards her husband, and her smile gets bigger with every step she takes if possible.

"What's this?" her eyes are sparkling with happiness when she asks.

"This, my dear wife," Tony says between handing Pepper her glass of champagne and pouring himself another one, "is a date. A picnic, to be exact."

Pepper inclines her head with a smile when she takes her glass and their fingers brush for a second when Tony passes it to her. His fingers are cold, probably from the bottle, so Pepper makes a mental note to warm his hands up after they get settled.

"You were paying attention to that?" she asks once she's sitting crosslegged in front of Tony on the blanket. She is careful to lay her glass down next to the blanket before she takes a hold of Tony's hands and starts rubbing them to warm him up. Tony sighs softly under his breath and his shoulders hunch over as he relaxes, a dopey smile on his handsome face.

"Of course I was, what kind of husband would I be if I wasn't?" Tony opens his eyes to look at Pepper with so much love and adoration that for a moment the breath is knocked out of her. Thinking back to the man who couldn't even remember her birthday and when to eat, she can't wrap her mind around the fact that he is the same man that is now standing in front of her. Pepper is so proud of the man she now calls her husband.

"Come 'ere," she beckons, tugging on his hands, and Tony comes willingly, looking at her and smiling. Pepper catches his eyes closing right before their lips connect, and that's when she closes hers as well and revels in the feeling of Tony's lips and mouth.

She sighs lovingly when they pull apart but not fully, their mouths still so close to each other that their breaths mingle together and they are one.

"I love you," Pepper says in that moment, so simple yet so precious, the air, the food, and the champagne their only witness.

"I love you, too, Pep. Forever. It's always you," Tony says back and kisses her again before they pull away for good.

"Would you like some sandwiches, Mrs. Potts-Stark?"

Pepper raises an eyebrow. "What about the mess in the kitchen? Was all that for some sandwiches, Mr. Potts-Stark?" she teases.

"I tried to cook you something more special," Tony says sheepishly, "but it didn't quite work out. The failed attempt is still on the kitchen counter if you want to risk poisoning yourself, though," he shrugs.

"No," Pepper laughs, "I think sandwiches and champagne will do, thank you very much."

"Here you go," he hands over a sandwich on a plate for her, puts one for himself then settles more comfortably next to her.

Pepper tells Tony all about her meeting while they eat. He tells her about his eventful day of cooking with F.R.I.D.A.Y. while the redhead tries not to choke on her champagne with laughter, then when they're done they lie down on the blanket cuddled together, watching the stars and tracing figures on the sky with their fingers.

Pepper feels Tony shake slightly after half an hour of staring at the sky, but it's warm outside so she knows it's not from the cold. She turns around in his arms so that she's facing him, takes his hand in hers and smiles softly at her husband's gorgeous face, illuminated by the sky above.

"Don't worry, Tony. I'm here. I'll never let the stars harm you again."

Tony leans his forehead on hers and breathes shakily but nods. "I know you won't, Pep. You're my rescue after all."

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is a gift for @solarstark for the Marvel Gift Exchange on tumblr.com. I hope they enjoy it, and I wish you all Happy Holidays!
> 
> Find me on tumblr @armoredavengers


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